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Awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnsonoverturn conventional wisdom about how economies workrevealing the untold story of who wins and who loses the rewards of prosperityin a work that fundamentally transforms how we look at and understand the world

Throughout history technological change whether it takes the form of agricultural improvements in the Middle Ages the Industrial Revolution or todays artificial intelligence has been viewed as a main driver of prosperity working in the public interest The reality though is that technology is shaped by what powerful people want and believe generating riches social respect cultural prominence and further political voice for those already powerful For most of the rest of us there is the illusion of progress

Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson debunk modern technooptimism through a dazzling original account of how technological choices have changed the course of history From vivid stories of how the economic surplus of the Middle Ages was appropriated by an ecclesiastical elite to build cathedrals while the peasants starved to the making of vast fortunes from digital technologies today as millions are pushed towards poverty we see how the path of technology is determined and who influences its trajectory

To achieve the true potential of innovation we need to ensure technology is creating new jobs and opportunities rather than marginalizing most people through automated work and political passivity We need to use the tremendous digital advances of the last half century to create useful and empowering tools and seize back control from a small elite of hubristic messianic tech leaders pursuing
their own interests

With their breakthrough economic theory and manifesto for building a better society Acemoglu and Johnson provide the understanding and vision to reimagine and reshape the path of technology and create true shared prosperity